It Just Happened That Way || JEONGIN from skz!

18

Yeona's POV

I frantically create a "To Do" list for the barbecue night. This would be my first proper get-together since the pandemic was brought under control, and I was a little nervous. Okay, I was a lot nervous. Not only was this my first real get-together in a while, but it was also being held with other Stray Kids members? That's just...I never would've imagined, honestly.

I texted Jeongin my to-do list to confirm that I had everything.

Jeongin: Wow why are you buying so much — you know we're just hosting the location. The others will bring food and supplies too.

Yeona: Okay... then I'll just buy the cleaning supplies and extra drinks??

Jeongin: yee and also take a breath in the meantime. 

I walked over to the market and bought some soju, some Cass beers, and anjoo, drinking snacks. Then I headed to the cleaning supplies area and picked up extra trash bags and paper towels. I felt like I was buzzing with anticipation. I couldn't believe the turn of events. Was I really about to meet my original bias? From back when I was a baby Stay? So strange.

I got home and went up to the roof. Not many people ever used the roof, so we didn't need to reserve it or anything. There was already a little platform that had a table on top of it, so I just laid out a blanket to sit on, and put out a couple of seat cushions.

"Hey! You're already here, good. Can you grab the cook-top from me?"

Jeongin popped his head out from the door, arms precariously balancing the cook-top, some extra gas canisters, and a grocery bag filled with vegetables. I rushed over and grabbed them from him, and set up the table with the cook-top on one side, and the canisters underneath.

"You nervous?" Jeongin could feel my jitteriness, I guess.

"Yes!" I practically shout. "I mean. Yes. Haha." I felt like I had to try to get a full breath in. Was I overreacting? Where did my cool persona go.

"Don't worry, Felix and Jason are chill people. You'll be fine. And I think that Chan will be coming too. Not sure who else yet."

"What!? Oh god, I forgot that you said it might be more than just Felix and Jason. Okay. That is fine. I am fine."
"Yeona, breathe. Hee hoo hee," said Jeongin, making hand movements to mimic breath flows. I roll my eyes at him, and try to get a hold of myself. Just as I do, I hear a familiar deep voice call out, "Hello!~"

We both turn around and see Felix, with a Korean guy following behind. That must be Jason.

Jason was about the same height as Felix, but slightly wider with more muscle mass. He had a sharp nose, but soft features overall. He and I made eye contact, and it was as if we exchanged a telepathic message of Oh, you're the non-Stray Kids person.

I smile at both of them, as Felix comes up to me and shakes my hand.

"Hi! I'm Felix, this is Jason. It's so nice to meet you, we've heard a lot!"

I smile bigger, and reply, "Hey! I'm Yeona, I hope you haven't heard too many bad things about me. It's nice to meet you two."

We all walk over to the table, as Felix puts down some Tupperwares with brownies and cookies. Wow, he really does bake just cookies and brownies, I think to myself, internally laughing.

Just as we sit down, the rooftop door opens again to reveal Chan, Minho, and Jisung. My eyes go big for a second, and then I regain control of my shocked face. I glance over at Jeongin, who's smiling big at the three newcomers.

"Hyung! You're all here too, wow. This is great. Everyone, this is Yeona!" He directs the attention to me, and I feel three new sets of eyes on me.

"Hi, nice to meet you all," I say with a feeble wave. Chan unexpectedly gives me a big hug, and says, "It's so good to meet you" in English.

Minho and Jisung hang back a little, Jisung giving me a big smile and a wave, and Minho giving me half of a smile and a head nod before going over to say hi to Jason and Felix.

This is going to be a long night.

At least that's what I thought at first. But the second that Chan began tearing the plastic wrap off of the meat, and cooking, we all began to drink a bit and to loosen up. I could tell that Minho was still a bit more cautious around me — maybe that's just how he was in general. 

Felix and I got on well. We spoke in English since it was more comfortable for the two of us. We talked about how it was to settle into Korea ("It's kinda tough, but Korean school helps a lot" "Oh me too! I did that a lot during the trainee days.") and we talked about how he met Jason ("It was coincidental too, like you and Jeongin"). 

Chan joined the conversation sometimes in English, and Jisung tried to follow along with his funny jokes. Eventually we all switched back to Korean to include the others.

I felt very comfortable. I didn't expect it, but the boys were making me feel welcome, and I appreciated it a lot, especially considering the amount of worrying that I had done the night before and throughout the day. I looked over at Jeongin at one point, and he raised his eyebrows, as if to ask, everything good? I nodded with a grin, and was met with his twinkling smile. He really did have a beautiful and contagious smile.

As the night came to a close, we were all just munching on snacks and desserts and drinking, looking at the view and at the stars.

"Yeona, I'm glad that Jeongin finally has a friend," declares Minho. I look at him with surprise, and Jeongin whines, "Hey, I have friends..."

We all laugh, and Chan continues with "No, but I'm glad that he's made a friend out of you, especially outside of this entertainment world."

"Okay, guys, calm down, I'm not a kid anymore, I've got friends, I can handle the real world..." Jeongin pouts.

I laugh and reply, "Yeah, I'll try my best to keep him grounded. God knows that'll be difficult." I side-eye Jeongin and smirk a little to tease him.

"GuYS Please! I have friends! I am grounded! Hmph!"

We all continue to tease Jeongin even as everyone started heading out. They all gave me big hugs, including Minho, and left tipsy and happy. I turn to see that Jeongin is laying on the platform looking at the stars — or was he sleeping?

I go over and lay down next to him.

"This was fun," I tell him.

"I think they liked you a lot," he simply replies.

We both sigh and take in the silence.